Tuesday, 18 July 2023

A detailed introduction to ants and facts about ants.



COMMON NAME
: Ants

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Formicidae

TYPE: Invertebrates

DIET: Omnivore

GROUP NAME: Army, colony

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: Several weeks to several years

SIZE: 0.08 to 1 inches. 



Ants are generally considered despicable creatures, but if you study them closely, you will see such signs of God in ants that your intellect will be stunned. Man cannot even imagine that, even in ants. There can be so much discipline. There are certain responsibilities for each type of picket in the bill, which they perform in an efficient manner, and there is no scope for disobeying orders. If the labourers pick up food, If it is to be done, there is no question that they will steal their lives from this work. If an ant finds a food store somewhere, it will not only be tempted to eat it but will also inform the rest of the ants in its colony. Let's see how amazing and organised this small creature that we usually despise is!

 

An ant is a very powerful creature. It can lift fifty times its own weight. Do you know that Hafthor Björnsson set a world record by lifting 501 kilogrammes at the 2020 Olympic Games? This weight is about three times his weight. That is, at that time, even the strongest man in the world could lift a maximum of three times his weight. But you will be surprised to know that an ant can easily lift fifty times its weight and pull thirty times its weight. That is, if a human has this ability, a young man can easily lift an African elephant. So we can say that an ant (in terms of its size) is more powerful than a human. I am a very powerful being.

 


We humans use language and gestures to communicate with each other. That is, we can say that language and gestures are methods through which humans communicate with each other, and these methods have been developed by humans. Each word and each sign have a different meaning that we can understand. Similarly, ants also use different ways to communicate with each other, like sounds, touch, smell, etc. Ants are ants. Most of them use scent to communicate with others. This smell is called a pheromone.

 

For example, when an ant feels threatened, it emits a special smell to warn other ants. This smell is called a pheromone. Other ants detect this smell with the help of their antennae. That is, this smell means "get ready to thwart the attack of your enemy". Similarly, when an ant finds a food supply somewhere, it immediately goes to its nest and other ants. Dances to report means "I've found food in such and such a place; come with me". This means that ants use different ways to communicate with each other, and each has its own special way. Edward O. Wilson is a big name in ant research. You can call him the Imam of the ant world. He writes in his book "Tales From The Ant World" that if When an ant finds a drop of sugar, it takes it into its bill and then spits it out in front of some other ants. By using this method, it is sending a message to the ants of its colony that "I have found a store of food in such and such a place. Well done, come with me. "

 

There are usually three types of ants in a burrow. These include queen ants, worker ants, and worker ants. There is usually only one queen in a burrow. The queen ant is female and is the mother of all the other ants. I am bigger than other ants. It has only one job, and that is to lay eggs. It lays fifteen hundred to two thousand eggs in a day. The interesting thing is that only the queen lays eggs, while the rest of the ants do not.

 


The largest number of ants in the burrow are the worker ants. They are female, like the queen, but they do not lay eggs. They are the hardest workers. Cleaning the burrow and protecting the queen and the burrow Doing dishes and arranging food are their major responsibilities. They bring food from outside and feed the queen, her children, and the ants. The worker ants who perform the duties of security guards have an interesting story. Guards the entrance of the cave. Whenever an ant enters the burrow, they smell it. By smelling the smell, they find out that this ant belongs to our settlement. If the smell does not match. Then it only means that that ant is not from our colony. Then she beats that ant well. Queen and male ants (male ants) stay in the burrow and only come out of the burrow to mate. come out

 

The third type of ant is the male ant. They are called ants because they are always nesting in the burrow. They don't have to do the work. Food is provided by the worker ants. They are fewer in number than the worker ants. Do ants have wings? The answer is yes. They are worker ants. But they don't have wings, which you may have noticed. But you might be surprised to know that ants and queens have wings. They come out only to mate, so we have this misconception that ants don't have wings. Horned ants die after mating with the queen. This quality is also found in bees. The bee also dies after mating with the queen. In some species of ants, the queen mates with a single ant, while in other species, the queen mates with more than one ant.

 

Ants and queens say good-bye to the bill to mate, and the queen is accompanied by a swarm of ant ants. This is the last chance in the lives of ants, as they die shortly after mating. Later, the queen ant sweeps her wings. After mating, the queen bee usually does not return to her original burrow but digs a small hole in the ground near where she mated, and after a few weeks, she starts laying eggs. These eggs are usually white in colour and shaped like grains of rice. During this time, they usually do not come out of the hole until the hatchlings are young enough to fend for themselves (i.e., worker ants). Sometimes, when the queen ant is very hungry, she eats some of the eggs herself.

 

The queen ant usually mates once in her life, but she can lay hundreds of eggs in a day. Well, this is not digestible, but it is a fact. Actually, when an ant mates, the sperm of the male ant, i.e., the male ant, is deposited in its abdomen. A sac called the spermatheca stores these sperm in it. It then opens a valve to allow these sperm to enter the reproductive system. Fertilised eggs give birth to female ants (i.e., queen and worker ants), and these fertilised eggs give birth to male ants, i.e., ants. It is not a surprising thing. What is even more surprising is that these ants He has the choice whether he wants to create a male ant from the stored sperm or a female ant; that is, he has the choice whether he wants to fertilise the eggs or unfertilize them!

 

Well, it is also very interesting that an ant has two stomachs. One stomach is for digesting food, and the other stomach is for storing food. The stomach that stores food is called the crop. When another ant is hungry, the ant will drop the food stored in the crop in front of the hungry ant. The honeypot ant is a type of ant, and its stomach is so big that it is as big as a grape seed. It stores food in it. Due to storing so much food, it is unable to move, so it sticks to the walls of the refrigerator. Food stored in it is very useful during starvation.

 

You must have seen ants walking in a row. After seeing this sight, the question must come to our mind: why do they walk in a row? Actually, the sight of ants is weak. When an ant stores food somewhere. When she finds out, she goes to the other ants in her bill and does a special dance to inform them, or she mixes with the other ants. Now the other ants understand what this dance means. It means "I have found food in such and such a place; come with me". After that, some ants followed him under his supervision. While walking, it rubs its abdomen on the ground and emits a smell, which the other ants sense and follow.

 


Allah Ta'ala shows us the signs of His power, which we consider contemptible; they also live under discipline. Just like there are many rooms in a human house. Each room is used for a different purpose. Some rooms are for sleeping, some rooms are for storing food, etc. You will see exactly the same system in an ant (Chambers). Some rooms are for storing food; some rooms are reserved for worker ants to sleep; some rooms are resting places for ants; and there is a special room for the Nawabzadi queen ant.

 

According to an estimate, there are more or less 12000 species of ants in the world. Some experts believe that there are more than 20,000 species of ants. Most species of ants are black or brown in colour. However, they are red, and they can also be yellow in colour. Edward O. Wilson is a big name in the field of ant research. You can call him the Imam of the world of ants. He writes in his book that the number of ants on this planet is 1610. He further writes that the total weight of ants on this planet is more than the weight of all human beings. An ant's life span can range from months to years, depending on the species of ant. According to Wikipedia, in some ant species, the queen ant can live up to 30 years. A worker ant has a maximum lifespan of 1 to 3 years, while a worker ant has a life span of only a few weeks.

 

There is a type of ant in the world called the bullet ant. It is known that when it bites, it hurts so much that a person has been shot, which means a lot of pain. Its sting is the most painful in the world. It is considered a stinger. It is also called a 24-hour ant because the pain caused by its bite lasts for 24 hours. There is a type of ant in the world called the carpenter ant. It lives in wood. They build and infest wood like termites. They prefer moist wood to dry wood.

 

There is a type of ant in the world called leaf cutter ants. They sometimes cut so many leaves from trees that sometimes 15% of the leaves are reduced. They carry these leaves in their burrows. There They don't go and eat these leaves, but they add their saliva, i.e., saliva, to these leaves and add fungus to it. After a few weeks, a field of fungus is produced, which it eats as food. Ants in this world There is a type of ant called the army ant. It is very cruel. There are millions of ants in the colony. It can kill any big predator, like a goat, in a few minutes. You can call them nomads because they don't build homes. The largest ant species in the world is the Giant Amazonian, which can grow to over 1.5 inches in length! What is the diet of ants? The answer is that they eat both animals and plants; that is, they are omnivores. Each type of ant has a different diet. Some types of ants eat meat, some plants, some fungi, etc.


Here are some interesting facts about ants:


1. Ants are social insects that live in colonies. A colony can consist of thousands or even millions of individual ants.


2. Ants are found on every continent except Antarctica. They thrive in various habitats, including forests, grasslands, deserts, and urban areas.


3. There are more than 12,000 known species of ants, and scientists estimate that there may be as many as 22,000 species in total.


4. Ants are incredibly strong for their size. Some species can carry objects that are 50 times their own body weight.


5. Ants communicate with each other using a combination of chemical signals (pheromones), touch, and sound. They use pheromone trails to navigate and leave trails to guide other ants to food sources.


6. Ants have different roles within the colony, including workers, soldiers, and the queen. The queen's primary job is to lay eggs and ensure the survival of the colony.


7. Ants have a complex social structure and division of labor. Worker ants are responsible for tasks such as foraging, nest building, and caring for the young.


8. Ants are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Their diet can include nectar, insects, seeds, fungi, and even dead animals.


9. Ants are known for their impressive architectural abilities. They build intricate nests and tunnels using soil, leaves, twigs, and other materials.


10. Some ant species are known for their farming behavior. Leaf-cutter ants, for example, cut leaves and use them to cultivate a fungus, which serves as their primary food source.


11. Ants have been farming for millions of years, even before humans. They were the world's first farmers!


12. Ants play a vital role in ecosystems as decomposers, predators, and seed dispersers. They help aerate the soil, control pest populations, and contribute to nutrient recycling.


13. Ants have been used as a symbol of hard work and diligence in many cultures. Phrases like "busy as an ant" and "ant-like persistence" highlight their reputation for industriousness.


These facts only scratch the surface of the fascinating world of ants. There is still much to discover about their behavior, biology, and ecological significance.


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